8Elos Review: Emeralds front $3000 buy-in Ponzi

There is no information on the 8Elos website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The 8Elos website domain (“8elos.com”) was registered on the 4th of July 2014 and names “8 Elos Finest Jewelry Limited” as the owner. An address in the British Virgin Islands (a known tax-haven) is also provided.

In 8Elos’ Terms and Conditions a different address for 8 Elos Finest Jewelry Limited is provided:

Any written communication provided on this Agreement, should be made to the following address:

8 ELOS FINEST JEWELRY LIMITED 20, Rue Adrien Lachenal 1207 Geneva – Switzerland

Research reveals that this address belongs to SFM Corporate Services, who offer offshore “company formation with bank account”.

Rates provided on SFM’s website reveal a company can be set up in Switzerland with a bank account starting at 3320 EUR.

The British Virgin Islands meanwhile is a common place of registration for MLM company owners looking to dodge regulatory agencies.

From 8Elos’ Terms and Conditions:

Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to the Agreement, or the breach thereof, shall be settled by arbitration administered by British Virgin Islands Arbitration Center under its Arbitration Rules.

Jurisdiction and venue of any matter not subject to arbitration shall reside exclusively in British Virgin island District Court.

The law applicable to this contract is the British Virgin Island Law.

8Elos would appear to exist in both the British Virgin Islands and Switzerland in name only.

The 8Elos compensation plan suggests the company is likely owned by an individual or group of people with ties to Brazil and the US:

The 8Elos belongs to a holding company controlled for investors Brazilians and North Americans that act in the sectors of fuel, fashion, transport, vehicles and financials.

The only trace of executive structure I was able to find was this slide from an 8Elos affiliate presentation:

It names “Mark Pereira” as Chairman of the company.

Somewhat curiously, in place of information about Pereira instead a quote from Abraham Lincoln is present.

One reason for that might be because Pereira’s actual name is “Marcello Pereira”:

Pictured above with TelexFree top investor Sannderly Rodrigues, Pereira (full name “Marcello Fornelos Jose Pereira”) is based out of the US state of Florida.

In addition to fraternizing with known Ponzi underworld figures, Pereira himself appears to have had run ins with the law (example 2).

If any Portuguese readers are able to summarize what those charges are about it will be greatly appreciated, auto-translate isn’t making much sense.

Why the ownership and management details of executives are not provided on the 8Elos website is a mystery.

Read on for a full review of the 8Elos MLM business opportunity.

The 8Elos Product Line

8Elos would appear to not have any retailable products or services.

At the time of publication, there are no products or services (retail or otherwise) listed on the 8Elos website.

The 8Elos Compensation Plan

The 8Elos compensation plan revolves around affiliates signing up and then investing in one of four packages:

• Elos Start – $300
• Elos 1 – $1000
• Elos 2 – $2000
• Elos 3 – $3000

Recruitment Commissions

The 8Elos Terms and Conditions state that

To become a 8Elos Associate, each applicant must … purchase of a package set out in the compensation plan.

An 8% commission is offered on the purchase of affiliate packages, acting as a defacto recruitment commission.

This equates to:

• Elos Start – $24
• Elos 1 – $80
• Elos 2 – $160
• Elos 3 – $240

Revenue-sharing

8% of total monthly turnover of the company divided into shares proportional to the product purchased by each eligible associate.

As above, 8Elos take 8% of affiliate package revenue each month and pay it out via shares belonging to eligible affiliates.

An affiliate qualifies for payment by recruiting at least two affiliates who each buy-in at the Elos 1 or higher level.

One package corresponds to one share, with 8Elos marketing the dividend as an annual ROI:

• Elos 1 ($1000) – $1600 ROI
• Elos 2 ($2000) – $3200 ROI
• Elos 3 ($3000) – $4800 ROI

ROIs are paid out for twelve months.

Matrix Commissions

8Elos use a 2×8 matrix to pay out residual commissions on package purchases made by recruited affiliates.

A 2×8 matrix places an affiliate at the top of a matrix, with two positions directly under them (level 1):

In turn, these two positions branch out into another two positions each (level 2) and so on and so forth down a total of eight levels.

Each filled position in the matrix represents a purchased affiliate package, with commissions paid out at a rate of 0.8%.

This equates to:

• Elos Start – $2.40
• Elos 1 – $8
• Elos 2 – $16
• Elos 3 – $24

Binary Commissions

A second residual commission is paid out on the purchase of affiliate packages using a binary compensation structure.

A binary compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a binary team, with two positions directly under them:

These two positions form the start of two teams, left and right.

Package sales volume is tracked between the two teams, with an affiliate paid 8% of the volume generated by their weaker side.

Binary commissions are calculated daily, with earnings capped at $18,000 a day.

Binary Bonuses

If a 8Elos affiliate generates specific amounts of package sales revenue in their weaker binary side, the following bonuses are paid out:

• Earl ($150,000 in lesser binary team volume) – $1000 bonus
• Marquis ($500,000 in lesser binary team volume) – $5000 bonus
• Duke ($1,500,000 in lesser binary team volume) – $15,000 bonus
• Prince ($10,000,000 in lesser binary team volume) – $100,000 and an Audi TT convertible
• King ($50,000,000 in lesser binary team volume) – $500,000 and an Audi A8
• Emperor ($150,000,000 in lesser binary team volume) – $1,000,000 and an Audi R8

Global Bonus

The Global Bonus rewards 8Elos affiliates who have recruited at least 24 affiliates who have bought in at the Elos 3 level ($3000).

These affiliates share in the Global Bonus Pool, which is made up of 0.8% of 8Elos company-wide affiliate package sales revenue.

How often the Global Bonus Pool is paid out is not disclosed.

Promotional Bonus of Travel

No specifics about this bonus are provided in 8Elos’ compensation plan:

Trips to various places in the world for all associates who hit the promotional goals presented by the official communication channels of the company.

Joining 8Elos

Affiliate membership to 8Elos requires the purchase of an affiliate package:

• Elost Start – $300
• Elos 1 – $1000
• Elos 2 – $2000
• Elos 3 – $3000

These packages are valid for a year, after which an affiliate must reinvest in another one.

There also appears to be an additional $50 “back office” charge. Whether or not this is an annual fee is not clarified.

Conclusion

With nothing being bought or sold to retail customers, advertised annual ROIs and all revenue currently sourced from new affiliates, 8Elos is operating as a Ponzi investment scheme.

Affiliates buy in for between $300 to $3000 and are promised advertised annual ROIs, paid out of subsequent affiliate investment funds.

The direct recruitment commissions add an additional pyramid scheme layer to the scheme.

There’s a lot of baloney about emeralds on the 8Elos website but I was unable to see how any of it factors into the business model or compensation plan. Affiliates purportedly do receive a small rock when they purchase a package, but other than that this is straight investment on the expectation of a ROI paid out of new affiliate funds.

As with all Ponzi schemes, once new affiliate investment by way of package purchases dies down, the company will eventually find itself unable to cover it’s advertised annual ROIs.

ROIs are paid monthly, so that gives Mercello Pereira plenty of time to run off with people’s money when 8Elos inevitably collapses.

Oh and if you’ve already invested and are now feeling duped, you can forget about asking Pereira for a refund:

An Associate adheres to 8Elos Business with a Purchase of a package set out in the Compensation Plan.

The value delivered to the purchase of this package is non-refundable.

There’s no refunds because your invested money has already been used to pay off 8Elos investors who came before you.

The featuring of Sann Rodrigues on Marcello Pereira’s Facebook wall is of particular interest, as it would appear Rodrigues is an 8Elos investor:

What you’re looking at there is a September 7th posting by Pereira, evidently showing off Sann Rodrigues marketing what appears to be his very own 8Elos affiliate referral link.

How much Rodrigues has invested in 8Elos along with how much he might have collected from investors who came after him is unclear.

The plot thickens when one enters in the affiliate code Rodrigues was promoting, as the account is apparently under the name of Pereira:

One reason Rodrigues might not want his 8Elos account in his name is because, by way of a preliminary injunction, Rodrigues has been ‘ordered to cease conducting any further fraud involving securities or otherwise.‘

Sann Rodrigues billed himself as the top investor in TelexFree, a billion dollar Ponzi scheme. Rodrigues stole around $3 million from TelexFree’s victims, and is currently being pursued through courts by US regulators.

Rodrigues was caught out promoting another scam only a few weeks ago. His promotion of iFreeX (in which Rodrigues boasted of having a downline running into the thousands), prompted an investigation by the Massachusetts Securities Division.

Whether the SEC are aware of Rodrigues involvement in yet another evident US/Brazilian Ponzi scheme is unknown.